Woman's Christian Temperance Union

The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU) is a women's rights and temperance organization that was founded on 23 December 1873 in Hillsboro, Ohio. The WCTU advocated progressive reforms, including a ban on alcoholic beverages in order to prevent drunken husbands committing domestic abuse. By 1879, the WCTU had 120,000 members, and it became one of the most powerful temperance movements in the United States; in 1919, it expanded its goals to include banning tobacco within five years. The WCTU declined after the repeal of Prohibition in 1932.